Heartrate Monitoring Earbuds! To Take Off the Baby Weight

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BioSport #CollectiveBias

Confession: I’m forty pounds heavier than I was at this time last year. I had a baby three months ago, and there were lots of tropical flavored Starburst Chews involved in those eight months of pregnancy. Ahem, Starbursts and Red Robin steak fries. So, I’ve been fusing fitness with technology for a smarter workout, because I’m discovering that it is much more difficult to lose the pregnancy weight the third time around than it was with the first two—which was extremely grueling then, let me tell you.

One aspect of the (un)fitness hardship I’m facing is because I hit the big 3-0, and like magic, the lethargy of my metabolism has reached new lows. Another, perhaps more detrimental obstacle to my weight loss is that my secret ingredient—crazy intense exercise—is not advisable for the time being, due to the possibility that I have a certain heart condition.

The good news is that Intel finally made an appearance in the mobile market with some nearly microscopic processors which happen to be perfect for things like fitness wearables, which will help me shed the baby weight and get back the weight I was a year ago.

I got some SMS Audio #Biosport Earbuds, and yes, they are imbued with an Intel processor. These little babies are my new best buds (Get it? Do you? Yes, the pun was intended). They use a built-in optical sensor to measure my heartrate while I workout. Both the processor and the sensor are inside the earbuds. In the earbuds! And they don’t even require a battery, because you just plug them into your phone, or iPod, or whatever you use to listen to music while you workout, and it gets all the juice it needs to run the processor from the headphone jack.

That’s right, say good-bye to the chest strap, and batteries. No extra equipment to charge, or strap on, or remember to put in your gym bag. It’s all in the earbuds.

Also, they have great sound quality. I get really bugged by earbuds that are expensive, but sound crappy, or don’t stay in my ears. Not so with these babies. They stay put, are comfortable, and sound great while they do their heart-monitoring, sweat-resisting thang.

I got mine on Amazon, as you see in the screenshot, but you can also get them at sporting goods stores like Dick’s and there are several great colors available.

How do they work? Like this…

Open up Runkeeper, plug the earbuds into your phone (and your ears), and start your run!

When running outside (or cycling, or rowing, or snowboarding…whatever I want to do in the great outdoors) RunKeeper uses my phone’s GPS to map my run, giving my time distance and pace as well. But honestly, I exercise indoors most of the time. Bad air quality and the sub-frigid temperatures keep me inside during the winter. So, when I’m doing the elliptical I choose RunKeeper’s stopwatch mode instead, and it tells me my time and heartrate information as I workout.

Did I mention that you get a free month of RunKeeper Elite with the purchase of the BioSport earbuds? True. True.

Most people would use their heartrate information to make sure they are working hard enough, but because of my unique circumstances, I’m using these babies to make sure my heartrate doesn’t get any higher than 80% of my max heartrate. They help me exercise safely within the guidelines the doctor set, so that exercise won’t damage my heart. The information is helpful either way.

When I’m not using the BioSport earbuds for their heartrate monitoring or sweat resisting qualities (like when watching Netflix on my phone), I just switch them out of heartrate monitoring mode to voice mode, using the little switch on the wire. That way, if I get a call I can answer and speak, and be heard without missing a beat.

So, these earbuds are one of the tools I’m using to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Wish me luck!

*By the way, if you would like your own pair, you can get a %20 discount until the end of January with the promo code BioSport20 at SMSAudio.com.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive compensation if you make a purchase using the links.

I’m a technological enthusiast with a completely unrelated degree in English Literature. I’ve also been known to dabble in photography and DIY furniture refinishing, with occasional stints of fitness sprinkled among all of the above.